National Adoption Week has taken place in the UK since 1997 and this year it runs from 20 – 26 October 2025. Its purpose is to promote and raise awareness about different pathways to parenthood through adoption. It also seeks to highlight the positive benefits of adoption for children, families and society and show how adoption can improve the lives of children and those who adopt them. Adoption is used in a variety of situations, from an individual or couple choosing to adopt through an agency to a step-parent adopting their partner’s child, to a non-birth parent obtaining parental status and rights after a child’s birth via assisted conception.
